by M. J. Caan
“All we could think to do was bring him back here; see if maybe you could help him.”
“Without Ellie, there isn’t much we can do,” said Taylor. “There’s another vet in Trinity, but…you know what she is like.”
“Yeah. If you’re bringing that one up, we’re outta here,” said Max. “Bad blood with the Trinity bunch.”
“Wait,” said Fionna, as she dug into her pockets, taking out her phone. Her fingers played across it as she sent a text. “Glen might be able to help. Granted, this isn’t a human, but still, she’s a nurse. Maybe she can do something. I told her to grab her emergency kit and get back over here ASAP.”
“In the meantime,” said Max, “you wanna put that knife away?”
Jasmin narrowed her gaze at him before glancing over at Torie, who just nodded in agreement.
“Fine,” she said, sending the knife flying back to its place, nestled in with the rest of the set. “And just so you know, even without the knife…you try anything, I still got something for your ass.” She snapped her fingers and sparks flew from the tips.
“So I see,” said Max, appreciatively.
Torie moved into the kitchen, getting out some clean towels and filling a pot with water.
“What are you doing?” asked Fionna.
“I don’t know,” she replied, “but every medical drama I’ve seen they always need clean linen and boiled water. Figured I might as well have it ready.”
“Um, yeah, if he were about to give birth,” mumbled Jasmin.
A short time later the door sprang open and Glen rushed in, wearing her blue hospital scrubs and carrying a black and red backpack slung over one shoulder.
“What is it? What happened?” she asked, looking around desperately for Fionna.
“It’s okay, babe,” Fionna said. “We’re all fine. I’m sorry about your shift. But we need you in here.” She led her to the workroom and showed her Eddie.
Glen looked at him and then back at Fionna.
“Is that…Eddie?”
“Yes,” said Torie. “He was found like this. Can you help him?”
“I…I don’t know what I can do,” Glen said, moving to stand next to the cat. “I mean, I’m not a veterinarian. I don’t know anything about animal anatomy.”
She took a stethoscope from her bag, placed the ends in her ears and then eased the receptive end onto Eddie’s chest.
“I mean, his heart rate seems strong; slow, but steady. There’s nothing in his chest that I can hear, but…I don’t really know what I’m listening for. Do you have any clean towels?”
“Ah ha,” said Torie, running back into the kitchen. “I knew you’d need these. I also have some hot water on if you need that.”
Glen smiled. “Thank you. But this will do for now.” She took one of the towels and laid it under Eddie’s head and then used the corner of the other to open one of his eyes. She peered closely and repeated the act with the other eye.
“His pupils look like a cat’s…but I just don’t know.”
“Well, there has to be something you can do,” said Fionna.
“This would be a lot easier if he were human. At least then I’d know what to look out for.”
Jasmin snapped her finger, which caused both Max and Elric to jump.
“Maybe that could be arranged.”
“What do you mean?” asked Fionna. “Can you turn him human?”
“To my knowledge it hasn’t been done before,” said Jasmin. “There is no spell I know that can make a shifter turn. But…” she looked at Torie and smiled. “Maybe between us, we can get him to do it.”
“What do you mean? What can I do? Maybe I should call on Mom?” Torie asked.
Jasmin shook her head. “The old Alva…yes. But this after-life version is not the witch she once was. You said that Eddie spoke to you, that you can hear his voice. Well, what if part of your magic is some form of telepathy? Maybe that’s what allows you to communicate with them in animal form. If that’s true, then maybe that connection works both ways. Maybe I can send your thoughts into his mind. What if Eddie is in there, but just unconscious…or stuck.”
“You said the longer a shifter stays in animal form, the more like that animal they become,” Torie said, turning to Fionna.
Fionna’s eyes lit up. “Yes! That’s right. What if he just doesn’t remember how to become human again?”
“You, wolves,” said Jasmin, turning to Max and Elric, “what is the longest you’ve been in wolf form?”
Elric started to speak but a look from Max cut him off.
“I’m not sure that is true,” said Max. “In our case, we are born in our wolf form, and then, as we age, we turn human. From what I have heard, that is not the case with all other shifters.” He eyed Taylor, giving the fox a smile.
“Werewolves are different,” said Taylor, “that is true. But for the rest of us, we are born in human form. Then our parents teach us how to shift at an early age. But they do warn us about the dangers of staying in animal form.”
“So what do we do?” said Torie. She was anxious to help, tired of being on the sidelines watching the game from afar.
“I’m going to perform a spell that will place your mind inside Eddie’s. Once the connection is made, you have to speak to him, remind him that he can become human again…that he needs to be human.”
“Okay. What do you need me to do in order to make this work?”
“Just open your mind to me and to Eddie. Remember, once I cast your consciousness into his, you will experience his reality as yours. Don’t get lost. Also, your innate magical gifts may start to kick in and try to fight back. Resist that urge; you need to go with the flow.” She turned to face Glen. “When this happens…if it happens, and he shifts, you’ll have to move fast. Do whatever you need to in order to keep him human.”
Glen nodded and began to root through her backpack, taking out a small bottle and a hypodermic syringe.
“Torie, are you sure you’re willing to do this?” asked Fionna. “Jasmin, is there any possibility Torie could be hurt during this?”
“I have no idea,” replied the witch. “Never done anything close to this before. For all we know, nothing will happen.”
“Look, I want to do this,” said Torie. “I trust all of you; and I want to help. Whatever it takes.”
“Okay, can you…is there enough room on the table for you to lie next to Eddie?”
Taylor and Fionna carefully moved Eddie closer to the edge of the table, clearing as much room next to him as possible. Torie grunted as she heaved herself onto the table, lying on her back next to the cat.
“Okay,” said Jasmin, “try to relax and let your mind go as blank as possible. Don’t focus on anything other than the sound of my voice.”
Torie nodded and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to think of nothing, but she imagined herself as a small rock; something that was untouched by everything around her. Feelings, emotions, thoughts…all of it rolled off her smooth surface. She tried to imagine how she felt in the last five minutes of her yoga classes when the instructor told them all to find peace and serenity.
Namaste, she thought, make my mind a rock.
Somewhere, Jasmin began to chant, and her voice seemed to come from above Torie and all around her at the same time.
“Spirits of my ancestors, guide my heart
as I peel back the layers of cloud and dark.
Daughter of the moon, and sister of the sun,
I implore you now, make these two minds one!”
What kind of Endora, backwoods Bewitched spell is that? thought Torie, but then, before she could question it, she felt like someone had just fired her out of a giant slingshot.
Once, she had accompanied Ward to the Sears Tower and made the mistake of looking down from the observation deck. The sense of vertigo she experienced then was nothing to the complete loss of orientation she now felt. Even though she knew she was lying on her back, she felt everything
around her spin to the point that she had no idea what was up and what was down.
She wanted to vomit, but then she felt the cooling touch of hands on her legs and shoulders. Her friends were her anchor and it served not only to reassure her they were there for her, but it also reminded her of her purpose. She forced herself to take deep breaths and concentrate on projecting a single name in her mind: Eddie.
She had no idea what she was doing but figured the feeling she was experiencing was her slipping into his mind. Maybe he would be able to hear her. She called again and again, until she heard a single sound, a meow, in response.
There you are, she thought, angling her mind in the direction the sound came from. In her mind’s eye, she saw him; a small, frightened kitten, cowering in place. He was so tiny, and she could feel the fear radiating off him.
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “Here, let me help you. Just like before.”
She bent over and scooped up the kitten, stroking it reassuringly.
“Aren’t you just the most precious thing? But you know that you can’t stay like this, don’t you?”
She heard another meow in response, but this time, the squeak sounded more like the cry of a baby than that of a cat.
“That’s right, Eddie,” she said. “You’re hurting and you’re scared. But there are a lot of people here that want to protect and help you. But we can’t do that with you in the shape you’re in. I need you to do something for me…okay?”
The kitten in her mind nodded slowly, looking up at her with bright eyes.
“I…I can try,” came a small voice from inside the cat.
“Good. Now that we’ve made contact, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do next, other than to tell you that you need to shift back to human form.”
The kitten looked confused for a moment.
“Eddie,” she said, this time her voice was sterner. It was the voice she had used on Shawn over the years to make him clean up his Legos and eat anything green on his plate. “Eddie, turn back into a human. Now!”
Then, as quickly as she had been sucked into his mind, she was expelled. She imagined it was what it felt like to be shot out of a torpedo tube. One minute she was mentally admonishing a tiny feline, and the next she was opening her eyes, the ceiling of her mother’s workroom coming into focus.
She moaned and turned her head to one side. To her shock, she was no longer lying next to a cat, but rather was now face to face with a very handsome man whose eyes blinked slowly, taking her in.
17
“Mom, what’s going on?”
Torie froze, her eyes growing wide as she looked around to see Shawn standing in the doorway to the workspace, his face a mask of questions.
“Oh, hi, baby…I thought you were upstairs packing,” Torie said, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Well, I was. I’m all set, and just came down for a snack and to see what time you wanted to leave.” He walked slowly into the room, glancing at the man on the table his mother had been lying next to. “Who’s that?”
“Oh, that’s Eddie. He’s um…my friend.”
Shawn looked from Eddie to the women around him, and finally settled on the two wolves, his eyebrows shooting up as he took in Elric’s form; naked except for the blanket wrapped around his waist.
“And…who are they?” he added. “Mom, what’s going on?”
“We were…um, we were…” she began.
“We were rehearsing,” said Jasmin quickly. “For a little improv play we are going to put on at the community theater next week.”
“Yes,” said Torie, thinking quickly, “and we’re going to film it and put it on Facebook. It’s a play about women over forty reclaiming their sexuality. Oh…hey, we need someone to work the iPhone when we go to shoot the final cut. Maybe you could—”
Shawn held up a hand in front of his horrified face. “I’m out. Nope, I don’t even want to hear anymore.” He placed two fingers in his ears and quickly ran out of the room. Once the fear and rush of adrenaline left her, Torie began to laugh hysterically.
Fionna laughed with her. “Oh my Goddess, did you see the look on his face?”
“That was fast thinking, Jasmin, thank you,” said Torie.
“Not as fast as yours,” she replied. “You added the icing to that cake.”
This made them laugh even harder. Only the wolves weren’t laughing.
“What’s so funny?” asked Elric. “I don’t get it.” To which another round of laughter erupted, causing the two wolves to look questioningly at one another.
“Okay, enough of that,” said Jasmin, wiping at her eyes. She walked over to Eddie and placed a hand on his forehead. “Eddie, are you okay? How are you feeling?”
“I feel like I’ve run a marathon and I have the mother of all headaches.” His voice was raspy and weak. He tried to sit up but a rush of dizziness made him instantly regret trying. He plopped back on the table with a thud.
“Don’t try to move just yet,” said Glen, rushing over to his side. She placed two fingers on his wrist and looked at her watch while she counted his heartbeat. “Low, and a little thready.” Taking out a pen, she aimed it at his eyes, clicking on a light that she waved in and out of his field of vision. “You could have a slight concussion, and you’re definitely dehydrated. You need water.”
Taylor immediately ran back into the kitchen and filled a cup before bringing it back to her friend.
“Not too much at once,” said Glen, taking it from his hands before he could down the entire thing. Again she rummaged through her bag, retrieving the needle she had hidden in there when Shawn showed up unexpectedly.
“This is a mild sedative. It’s going to help you get some healthy sleep, so you can keep healing.”
“Wait,” said Jasmin, stopping her from driving the syringe into his arm, “we need to ask him about what happened.”
“Ask whatever you want,” said Glen, “but I’m administering this sedative before he gets worse. It’s either that or you let me take him to the hospital.”
Jasmin looked at her and then stepped back as she gave him a quick jab with the needle.
“Eddie,” said Jasmin after Glen had moved from his side, “can you tell us what happened to you the night you were attacked?”
His eyes grew glassy as he regarded her. He smiled, feeling the effects of the drugs.
“I wish I could. I…don’t remember.”
“What do you mean you don’t remember?” Fionna asked as she moved in closer. “You were attacked, but you survived.”
“I wish I could. I feel like…there is something there, but I can’t quite grasp it. Whoa…how did you do that, Fionna? How did you make two of you?”
And then, with that last slur of words, he passed into unconsciousness, his head lolling to one side.
“I’ll get a pillow for him,” offered Taylor, heading off to the living room.
“I thought it wasn’t good for people with a concussion to sleep,” said Torie.
“Normally it isn’t,” replied Glen. “But in the case of a shifter, they heal differently, and faster, than humans. Sleeping will let his body recover and his innate abilities as a shifter to heal his wounds quicker; even in human form.”
Torie took a deep breath and turned to face the wolves.
“Okay, talk,” she said, steeling her voice and narrowing her eyes. “You know something, don’t you?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Jasmin.
“When I was inside Eddie’s mind, I sensed something. Something that had traumatized him. He was running from something, something that hunted him. He was in mortal fear for his life.” She turned and faced Fionna. “The kind of fear someone would have if they thought they were about to be eaten.”
Fionna hissed, stepping away from the wolves.
“Fionna, I told you, we had nothing to do with this,” said Elric.
“So you keep saying,” said Torie. “But that doesn’t mean you—or rather he—doesn’t kn
ow something.” She turned her gaze to Max, pinning him in place.
Jasmin turned on the wolf. She whispered an incantation that Torie couldn’t make out and her hand became engulfed in blue flames.
“If you are hiding something from us, wolf, I suggest you spill it now…before I have to make you talk.”
Max growled as the woman approached. His mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and his face changed slightly to more wolfen features as he retreated from the magic.
“I told you, witch, we didn’t do it. Yes, maybe there was another scent we picked up along with your cat friend’s here, but I swear I don’t know what it was. It was a creature we are not familiar with.”
“Keep going,” said Jasmin, slowly dousing the brightness of her magical flame.
“It was the scent of a predator,” said Max. “That was why we followed it. To see what had invaded this town…what was hunting your shifters. But there was a problem with the scent that confused us.”
“A problem? What was it?” questioned Torie.
Max didn’t say anything, his nose, now elongated and more canine-like, quivered as he took in the scents around him.
“It was shielded by magic,” said Elric, breaking the silence.
The women stared at him, unsure of what to say.
“That’s a lie,” spat Jasmin. Her anger made her voice quiver as she advanced on the beta wolf.
“No, it isn’t,” said Max. He struggled to regain control of himself, pushing the wolf away and presenting only his human face. “It’s true. We could not discern the scent of the creature that was committing the crime because it was cloaked in magic. Trust me, it’s a smell we have become very acquainted with.”
“Why can’t he be telling the truth?” said Torie. She was looking at Elric, and something instinctual told her he was not lying.
“Because what they are saying is that a witch is behind these killings,” said Fionna quietly.
“And that isn’t possible,” echoed Jasmin, her voice cold as steel.
“Why not?” said Max. “You were quick to believe that we were the culprits. Why couldn’t it be one of your cauldron-stirring brethren?”