Madison's Song

by Christine Amsden

  She was surrounded by enemies. Dozens of werewolves were out here somewhere, including one that followed close on her heels. It didn’t attack. She didn’t know if it would, but so far it had only urged her to move faster, even when she didn’t think she could go another step.

  A large tree came into view ahead of her and Madison ran straight for it, pausing to lean against its rough bark. She took several deep breaths and tried to think. Running wouldn’t serve her forever. She had to find a place to stop and ride out the night. She looked around, trying to get her bearings, but the full moon didn’t do much to illuminate the night. Not nearly as much as the fire burning somewhere in the distance.

  Fire?

  Madison whirled and saw that indeed, flames were beginning to consume the laboratory that had once been her prison. More and more monsters – human and otherwise – spilled out, some leaping out of broken windows while others trampled one another in their haste to get out the front door.

  Someone – a human, Madison thought – ran straight for them, possibly seeking shelter behind the same tree. He never made it. Scott intercepted the man, lunging for him in a move that brought him down to the forest floor. The man’s scream was cut off a moment later, as Scott sunk his teeth into the man’s neck.

  Madison stifled a scream and looked away, unwilling to relive the moment that had haunted her dreams for two years. But she couldn’t escape it completely. She couldn’t see, but she could hear the sounds Scott’s wolf made as it gorged on the man’s flesh. In her mind’s eye, she saw the intestines spilling out on the forest floor. The beast liked those the best.

  Madison felt frozen. Scott hadn’t attacked her, but he had attacked someone else. She wasn’t safe with him now that they were no longer linked. What if he bit her? Should she leave? Try to make it on her own? But if she ran into another werewolf...

  She started to move away, but a low growl from behind her froze her in her tracks. When Scott’s wolf went back to its feast, she started to move again, but this time it let out a low bark of warning, telling her in no uncertain terms that she would not be going anywhere without him. Finally, after what felt like hours but could only have been minutes, the wolf nudged her to get her moving again.

  The night stretched endlessly before them, punctuated by panic and screams. Scott wouldn’t let any other werewolves get close to Madison, though a few tried. The vampires – or at least what she assumed were vampires since they moved too quickly to see – didn’t pause to notice her at all. Maybe they were too full to care.

  The terrain was steep. The last time Madison had been aware of her location she’d been in Texas, but the steeper the decline became as she ran from her prison, the less like Texas this felt. Her vision didn’t work well at night, but in the glow of the moon she almost thought she saw mountains in the distance.

  She was just trying to make out those far-off mountains when her foot found the edge of a rock and she tumbled headlong down a few feet of rocky terrain. Bloody knees. Bloody palms.

  Blood would attract werewolves, wouldn’t it?

  As if in answer, several werewolves howled. Every hair on Madison’s body stood on end in response.

  She wanted to stop. To think. To catch her breath. She didn’t know if she could move on. But Scott’s wolf was still there, urging her to rise. When he licked her blistered, bloody feet she almost jumped out of her skin but she got up and kept moving.

  The second time Madison tripped she knew she had to stop, no matter what the beast behind her did. She rose to her feet before he could urge her to do it but didn’t move right away. Instead she stopped and listened, and for more than the bays and howls of escaped monsters.

  There. She heard something welcome, and not too far away. The sound of running water. Running water meant a lot of things, including a possible road to civilization in the morning. For now it meant washing away the blood that the wolves must be scenting from miles away. And maybe... maybe if she was very lucky... some kind of refuge.

  The stream was neither wide nor deep. Madison plunged into it, barely noticing the chill of the spring-fed water. It felt too good on her burns and cuts. She sighed as she sank into it while her bestial protector kept vigil at the bank.

  The sting of the chilly water quickly overcame any relief it provided her so she climbed out, but she still felt cold. Wasn’t it summertime? It should be June, if she was keeping track of the days properly.

  June in the mountains. What mountains, though? How far was she from civilization? In the morning she would follow the stream, the most logical course out of the wilderness. But for now...

  Scott came right up beside her, growling at her when she tried to scramble away on hands and knees. She stiffened, staring at him, wondering what he planned to do now. For a long time they just stared at one another, his yellow eyes locked with her brown ones. She trembled, expecting an attack. Maybe she could put him to sleep again with a song? She was about to open her mouth to do just that when he did something she wouldn’t have expected: He stood over her with his massive, warm body and began licking her wounds.

  She closed her eyes and tensed, bracing herself for a bite that didn’t come. His soft tongue simply lapped at her shoulder where the bullet had grazed her, then her hand, then her feet. Was he trying to soothe her pain or drink her blood? Either way she wanted him to stop. It felt too strange. Too frightening. Too...

  Scott growled, but not at her. She looked up to see three werewolves approaching as boldly as if they knew Scott. Maybe they did. Hadn’t that doctor said Scott’s pack had been captured?

  Scott padded away from her, headed in the direction of the three wolves. Madison got to her feet and moved a little ways down the bank to lean against a large rock. She hugged herself and generally tried to become as small as possible.

  One of the wolves started in her direction but Scott lunged for it, clamping his jaw around the other wolf’s leg. The wolf yelped and jumped back. Then it snarled. Scott snarled right back.

  What if they were from his own pack? Would he kill them to defend her? She couldn’t imagine it. His first loyalty was to his pack.

  She felt so tired. Her nap of a few hours past seemed long ago, and the night ahead longer still. Did werewolves sleep? Or did they only hunt?

  They did sleep. She startled herself by remembering that she had put Scott to sleep a little while ago. Could she do it again? Protect herself from Scott and his wolves? She had to try.

  Hush, little baby, don’t say a word, Mama’s gonna buy you a mockingbird...

  Madison closed her eyes as she sang, letting the words and the weariness fill her. When she finished – when she opened her eyes – all the wolves had fallen asleep. Including Scott.

  Madison didn’t dare to breathe. She also didn’t dare to fall asleep herself. She stayed by that rock, fighting the night chill, and humming her lullaby whenever a wolf began to stir.

  Gradually, the night grew quieter. Eventually she heard her last scream. The smell of smoke drifted her way whenever the winds changed. And then came the first light of dawn.

  Chapter 31

  SCOTT BLINKED AWAKE AS DAWN TOUCHED the sky, surprised to find that he had slept. He never slept as a wolf. He usually came to after an agony of transformation, his thoughts hazy as if he had been in a semi-conscious state. The haziness remained, a familiar reminder of who he was. But why had he slept?

  Madison!

  Scott pushed himself off the hard, rocky shore of a stream. Nearby he smelled a relatively fresh kill, probably a deer, but he spared it no thought. He only had one thing on his mind, and that thing stood by a rock, barely able to hold herself upright.

  “Madison!” He ran to her, swept her into his arms, and kissed her thoroughly enough to bruise her lips. She responded, though not with her usual enthusiasm. She looked ready to drop off to sleep at any second.

  “You’re alive,” Scott said. The I didn’t kill you was implicit. “Did I bite you?”

  “I’m f
ine.” She looked away.

  “Madison?” Scott felt the bottom drop out of his stomach. “Did I bite you?”

  She shook her head.

  He grabbed her hands, one burned and the other covered in partially dried blood. “What is this?”

  “I got shot. I have scrapes everywhere. My feet are even worse.”

  Something didn’t feel right here. He didn’t think she was lying, and he couldn’t find a bite mark, but he had frankly expected it. Braced for it. Before he could explore the issue further, however, he heard a groan from behind him.

  Scott sniffed the air before turning and spotting several members of his pack also coming awake from an unnatural sleep. There were Ben and Chad, his two betas, and Jessica.

  Jessica blinked sleepily, spotted Scott with Madison in his arms, and snarled. She started to lunge for them but Scott shielded Madison with his body.

  “You’re dead,” Jessica hissed at Madison as if Scott weren’t there. “You’re a mouse. A morsel. I’m surprised nobody ate you last night.”

  “Not one more word, Jessica,” Scott warned.

  “He’s mine,” Jessica said, again ignoring Scott’s existence. “Do you hear? Mine!”

  “Doesn’t look like he wants to be,” Madison said.

  “Madison, let me handle this,” Scott said.

  “I won’t be replaced by a mouse!”

  “Jessica,” Ben said, taking her arm. “Look at Scott.”

  She did. She blinked, then looked at him again. “You can’t be serious, Scott. You can’t replace me with her.”

  “I already have.” He wished he had broken it off with her before all this had happened, but too late now. All he had now was brutal truth. “It was never meant to be between us, Jessica. You don’t even like me.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “Yes, it is.” Scott stepped away.

  Jessica looked ready to lunge for Madison again. Scott started to intercede when he heard Madison’s sweet, sweet voice from behind him. It took him a few seconds to recognize the lullaby. And a few more seconds to...

  * * *

  Someone poked him awake. Scott blinked open his eyes to early morning sunlight for the second time that morning, but this time Madison stood over him.

  “What happened?” Scott asked.

  “I put Jessica to sleep. Everyone else, too. I wonder if I can direct the gift. Do you think? I’ve never tried.”

  Scott thought she might be able to do anything she put her mind to. For now he only marveled at the way she had handled the most aggressive bitch in his pack. She’d put her to sleep. Him too, for that matter. God, he loved her. He only prayed that Clinton never came wandering back into his territory. It was his only hope that he might one day make her feel the same way.

  “I thought we could follow the stream until we found something like civilization,” Madison said.

  Scott took a good look around him. Mountains surrounded them. Steep mountains. The Rockies, perhaps? He’d never been there, but he’d seen pictures. He didn’t know how high they were, or how close to civilization, but Madison’s instinct about the stream was correct.

  “We have to wake the others,” Scott said. “I won’t leave them here.”

  Madison’s face paled but she nodded.

  “You’ve proven your point, Madison,” Scott said. “Don’t show fear now.” He paused before suddenly wondering aloud, “How did they get out?”

  “I started unlocking doors.”

  “You should have been insubstantial.”

  Madison shrugged. “It’s a long story.”

  Scott wanted to hear that story, but it would have to wait. For now he had a duty to find as much of his pack as possible and lead them away from this trap.

  * * *

  They reached a small town sometime after noon. Scott had no idea how many members of his pack had been captured, but he found three more before they began their journey down the hill. Most of them threw Madison curious looks, but only Jessica bathed Madison with hatred. The rest were too determined to get home alive to care who their alpha had traveling with them.

  Reaching town came with new problems. With the exception of Madison, none of them were clothed. They usually left changes of clothing in their cars or trucks each month, but not this time.

  They weren’t the only ones with that problem. There had been at least a hundred werewolves in that lab, many of whom would need a new pack home. There would be a mess cleaning this up for weeks to come, and Scott felt responsible for most of the wolves, whether they had been his before or not. Dr. Akin had forced him to act as their alpha. Forced or not, he took that role seriously. He just wondered what he would be able to do with the experiments gone wrong. How many would he have to put down?

  How many new marks on his soul?

  Some of the others had already found the town and were roaming the streets naked. A couple of small town deputies tried to arrest them, but weren’t having much luck. Scott was just about to make his own presence known, perhaps with a story that would convince the deputies to hand them phones and changes of clothing instead of handcuffs, when a familiar car screeched into view.

  Evan had barely waited for his metallic blue Prius to stop before he was out, making a bee-line for his sister. His eyes went wider with each new step he took until he stood in front of her with a look of horror in his eyes.

  “What the hell happened to her?” Evan asked. His eyes went to Scott.

  “Long story. How did you find us?”

  “I’ve got a sample of her blood. I’ve been using it to search for weeks, but it only started working late last night. I assume that means you were being shielded.”

  Scott nodded grimly. “Can you take her home? I’ve got a mess to clean up.”

  “I’ll help you,” Madison said. She sounded weak. Looked pale. Probably due to lack of sleep.

  “No,” Evan and Scott said at the same time.

  They exchanged wary glances. Scott wasn’t sure if this was the right time to tell Evan that he had laid claim to his sister, but it couldn’t be a secret. And he wouldn’t let Madison go today without making sure she knew he would be right behind her, as soon as he cleaned things up here.

  “No,” Scott repeated, putting his arms around her. From the corner of his eye, he saw Evan stiffen. “Go with your brother.”

  “I’m not leaving here until I know Clinton is safe,” Madison said.

  Scott had suspected the reason for her protest, but she had to go. She couldn’t help Clinton now and even though he had promised not to be the one to hurt her brother, he couldn’t help the pup either. Besides, she was injured. Apparently unbitten – something his instincts could not believe – but injured. Maybe with all her other injuries, she simply hadn’t noticed a bite?

  “She has to go,” Scott said. “She’s bleeding all over the place.”

  He pulled away from her to look at Evan, who was eying the two of them warily.

  “Did you bite her?” Evan asked.

  “No,” Madison said.

  “I’m not sure,” Scott replied. “You’ll keep an eye on her?”

  “Of course.”

  “He didn’t bite me,” Madison insisted.

  “Take care of her,” Scott said, turning away.

  * * *

  Madison fell asleep almost as soon as Evan urged her into the passenger seat of his car. She didn’t want to sleep; she wanted to beg Evan for help with Clinton, but lack of sleep coupled with an exhausting night combined to practically knock her out.

  She woke in the evening when Evan stopped at a drive-thru to order some dinner. Madison thought about asking him to order her something, but despite not having eaten in twenty-four hours, she wasn’t hungry. If anything, she felt queasy.

  “What do you want?” Evan asked when he pulled in. “I’d take you someplace nicer, but there aren’t a lot of options in western Kansas and anyway, you’re not really dressed for it.”

  “Not hungry.�
�� Madison glanced down at her bloodied blue scrubs and winced. “How fast did you drive to get to me this afternoon, anyway?”

  “Pretty fast,” Evan admitted. “I wouldn’t believe you were dead; Cassie didn’t think so, either, and I tend to trust her instincts, so I found a spell that would alert me the second you were no longer being warded.”

  “I wonder how much blood I left in the forest,” Madison said, again looking down at her scrubs.

  “It’s hard to extract a blood sample from a forest,” Evan said. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

  “I’m worried about Clinton. Scott swore he wouldn’t kill him unless he returned to his territory, but I think someone else might.”

  Evan didn’t say anything for a long time. “What happened?”

  Haltingly, she told him everything, leaving out only her personal relationship with Scott, although judging from his expression he guessed. She did hesitate before telling him about true invisibility, suspecting that to be a secret Scott would rather keep, but her escape didn’t make much sense without telling him something about it.

  “You channeled Scott’s magic?” Evan glanced at her. “That explains your hand. I’ve been wondering about it for a while.”

  “Can you fix it?” Madison asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ll try, but no promises. Magical burns aren’t like normal burns.”

  “I suppose not.” It was her right hand, though; it would be tough to live with. She tried to imagine playing the piano with a bad right hand, an image she’d been avoiding for days because she hadn’t even let herself think she’d sit at a piano again. Now she could imagine it, but the hand got in the way. Madison stared out the passenger window, saying nothing as evening turned to twilight.

  “Madison,” Evan said. “There’s still one thing that bothers me about your story.”

  “What?”

  “Did Scott bite you?”

  “No.”

  “Madison, you’re sick. Ignoring the truth won’t change anything.”