Dark Moon Page 10

  “In that case,” Will continued, “I’d be descended from a wolf.”

  “No wonder Edward doesn’t like you.”

  “Didn’t go over too well when he heard it, that’s for sure.”

  “What happened?” I asked, though I had a pretty good idea.

  Will tilted his head, and his golden earring swung free. “He shot me with silver.”

  “No ill effects?”

  “I didn’t explode.”

  Will rolled up the sleeve of his T-shirt. A bulletshaped scar marred the smooth cinnamon skin of his upper arm.

  “Sorry about that.”

  “You didn’t do it.” He let the material fall back into place. “Besides, chicks dig scars, don’t they?”

  “You better hope not, unless you want a high body count when Jessie gets hold of them.”

  Will laughed. “She’s something else.”

  “Yeah, but what?”

  He considered me for a moment with a bemused expression. “You two are a lot alike.”

  “Me and Jessie? I don’t think so.”

  I was like no one I’d ever encountered, but that was beside the point. Jessie and I were as different as day and night, new moon and full, human and werewolf.

  I slanted the icon until the light caught the jeweled eyes and sparkled. “What’s your opinion?”

  “Not sure. Usually, totems are made of stone, bone, something of the earth.”

  “And this is plastic.”

  “Which would make me think it’s nothing more than a child’s toy, sold in tourist shops to folks from away. There isn’t an Ojibwe alive who would create a spiritual symbol from plastic.”

  “Except?”

  His gaze lifted from the wolf to my face. “Except this appears to have been made to represent a specific wolf. You.”

  “Voodoo?”

  “Voodoo is an amalgamation of ancient African tribal symbols and the Catholicism the slaves were baptized into upon their arrival. This totem, however weird, is Ojibwe. But the only time I’ve seen talismans that simulate something more specific than a generic clan animal is when they’re shamanic.”

  “English, please.”

  “Shamans use talismans to aid them in assuming the form of their spirit animal. To do that, they often construct a totem to resemble themselves in some way: hair color, eyes, distinctive facial feature.”

  “I’m not a shaman.”

  “Technically, anyone with the right stuff can transform.”

  “The right stuff being ... ?”

  “Mystical connection to an animal.”

  “Got that,” I said dryly.

  “A shamanic totem.”

  I jiggled the wolf like a tiny martini shaker. “And?”

  “A sacrifice to imbue the totem with power.”

  My hand froze mid-shake. “What kind of sacrifice?”

  “Blood, death.”

  I thought of the flayed rabbit and muttered, “Hell.”

  Quickly, I told Will exactly where I’d found the icon, then I told him the rest. About the totem shifting, spilling silver light into my mind, and the instantaneous change.

  “Bam, you’re a wolf?” he asked.

  “Pretty much. You think that’s what’s been happening in Fairhaven?”

  He blinked, considered the tiny wolf again, then shook his head. “They’d have to fashion talismans that represent a particular person. Seems like too much hassle. And really, what’s the rush?”

  Once bitten, the victim would shift within twenty-four hours—rain or shine, sunshine or shadow, full moon or new. Even the dead would rise. They’d heal, then run and kill as a wolf. The first time, the moon didn’t matter.

  “Besides, we’d have found tiny totems strewn all over the place. Once you’re a wolf, no pockets.”

  My lips curved at the similarity in our thought processes. “So what’s going on?”

  “With you or with Fairhaven?”

  I shrugged. “Pick a mystery.”

  “There hasn’t been a disappearance since we arrived. My theory is that whatever the werewolves were up to in Fairhaven, they’re done and they’ve moved on.”

  “Or they saw Edward—”

  “And they moved on.” Will nodded. “I would. According to Jessie, we’ll have to leave soon, as well. There are werewolves busting out all over the country.”

  “What about the mystery of me?”

  Will pointed at the icon. “If that was left for you, and I have to think it was, what did they hope to accomplish?”

  “Why do shamans transform? What do they gain from the process?”

  “Becoming one with their spirit animal gives them the power to complete a quest.”

  “What kind of quest?” I asked.

  “A journey, knowledge. Whatever is most important to them.”

  “The cure.”

  “Maybe.” Will’s forehead creased in thought. “But if they meant to help you, why not just hand you the thing?”

  “Yeah, why not?”

  “The place blew up,” he said slowly, “and then you found the talisman?”

  “Right.”

  “Were they trying to kill you or not? I can’t decide.”

  “Join the club.”

  He ignored my attempt at humor. Jessie was no doubt a whole lot funnier than I was.

  “If they meant for you to die, then the icon being where it was didn’t have anything to do with you.”

  “Okay.”

  “But—” His dark eyes met mine again. “If they wanted you dead, then why the talisman that resembles you in wolf form? Coincidence?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Me, neither.” Will appeared as stumped as I was. “How did you manage to be outside when the place went up in flames?”

  “The test wolves went ballistic. Howling, snarling, hiding, then attacking. They were behaving as if—” My eyes met Will’s. “They were trapped by an enemy.”

  “But which enemy?”

  I spread my hands wide. There were so many to choose from.

  “I guess if we knew that,” Will continued, “we’d know who blew up the compound and maybe even why.”

  “It’s never that easy.”

  “Never.” Will indicated the totem with a flick of one finger. “May I?”

  I hesitated. If the totem had turned me into a wolf—wham—who knew what it might do to Will? Then again, who better to find out?

  In the end, he snatched the thing from my hand and nothing happened. But this icon didn’t look like him.

  Will studied the tiny wolf with a single-mindedness I admired. “You’ve told me everything?”

  There was one thing I hadn’t, one thing that disturbed me more than the rest.

  The seriousness in Will’s dark eyes seemed magnified by the wire-rimmed glasses. “You can trust me.”

  Edward always preached: Trust no one. Ever.

  Of course Edward led a life of paranoia. He had good reason to.

  I’d lived so long inside a stone compound, I wasn’t sure whom to trust. But if I was going to put my faith in anyone, especially with information on the totem, Will would be the one.

  “My hand changed.” I made hooks of my fingers and growled.

  “You were able to transform one body part and nothing else?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’ve never heard of a werewolf being able to do that before.” Will offered the talisman. “Show me.”

  I stared at the tacky white wolf for several seconds before I took it. Closing my eyes, I thought of the moon. I waited for the icon to heat, shift, maybe whine. What I got was—

  “Nothing.” I opened my eyes. “You think I’m crazy?”

  Will contemplated me without any expression at all. “I think it’s daytime.”

  Chapter 15

  I glanced at the window to discover dawn had just broken.

  “Duh,”I muttered.

  “There’s someone you should meet. Her name’s Cora Kopway. She�
��s very old. Very wise. A member of the Midewiwin.”

  At my blank expression, Will elaborated. “Grand Medicine Society. Once, it was a secret religious fellowship devoted to healing through knowledge of the other world. Cora has spent her life studying ancient texts and conversing with the spirits in her visions.”

  For most people, meeting with a woman who received information from the dead would seem strange. But once you turned furry every full moon, strange takes on a whole new meaning.

  “If anyone can tell us about the totem,” Will continued, “Cora can.”

  The sound of a car on the street below drew Will to the door. “Jessie’s back.”

  I glanced at my watch. She hadn’t been gone all that long.

  “Edward?” I asked.

  “Not with her. Neither is Nic.”

  Even though I hadn’t expected him to be, disappointment sparked.

  “Let’s tell her what you told me.”

  I followed Will down the stairs and across the alley.

  As soon as we entered the cabin, Jessie announced, “Mission accomplished.”

  I hadn’t seen Nic for seven years; a few days in his company shouldn’t make me bereft upon losing him. Shouldn’t, but did.

  “Where’s Mandenauer?” I asked.

  “I thought he was with you.”

  “He said he was going to help you.”

  “I never saw him.”

  An uneasy sensation tickled the base of my skull. “That’s not good.”

  “Doesn’t mean jack. Except I’m in deep shit because I didn’t smell a tail.”

  “Where would he go?”

  “Who knows with him? Either he’ll show up, or he’ll call. He always does.”

  My unease lessened, though it wouldn’t go away completely until Edward walked through the door holding my research. There was always someone, or something, after him. That he’d survived this long was a miracle, or supreme luck. Sooner or later his luck would run out.

  “Show Jessie the totem,” Will said.

  Jessie stilled. “Another one?”

  I dug the plastic out of my pocket and handed it over. She held the thing gingerly, her gaze shifting from the icon, to me, and then back again. “Yours?”

  “Not really.”

  Will filled her in on everything we knew and all that had happened.

  Jessie closed her fingers around the plastic wolf. “I don’t feel anything.”

  “Should you?”

  “The last one was ... creepy. Thing moved, slithered even.”

  Jessie referred to the black totem I’d been studying in Montana, which should be ashes but probably wasn’t. The icon had borne the markings of the matchi-auwishuk manitou.

  Technically, manitou means “mystery, godlike, essence.” There are many such creatures sprinkled through Ojibwe lore. All are helpful but two—the weendigos, or Great Cannibals, and the matchi-auwishuk, also known as the Evil Ones.

  One of Mengele’s werewolves had used the matchi-auwishuk totem to become a wolf god, and had planned to rule the world.

  What is it with ruling the world? Every nutcase wants to.

  “This one moves for me.” I retrieved the wolf from Jessie’s hand. “Growls and mumbles, too.”

  “Maybe I should hold on to that,” Will said.

  I shoved the tiny wolf back into my pocket. “The totem stays with me.”

  Jessie and Will exchanged glances.

  “What?” I asked.

  “The icon is making you stronger, better,” Jessie said.

  “That’s a bad thing?”

  “I’m not sure,” Will admitted.

  “How can stronger and better be bad?”

  “You want a list?” Jessie muttered.

  “If I hadn’t been able to do a quick change when Billy attacked, both Nic and I would be dead.”

  Jessie shrugged. “Let her keep it. If I have to shoot anyone, better her than you.”

  She winked. I wasn’t sure what to make of that.

  Weariness washed over me. I had to get some sleep, even if it was six o’clock in the morning. “Which room’s mine?”

  “You’re staying here?” Jessie asked.

  “Of course she’s staying here. Where else?” Will patted my shoulder and gave me a little shove toward the rear of the house. “Third one on the left. Jess, give her something to sleep in, would you?”

  I glanced at Jessie in time to see her scowl. When she caught me looking, she wrinkled her nose. “Come on.

  She led me down the hall, stopping at the first door on the right. Inside was a king-sized bed, unmade, along with two suitcases, open and sitting on the floor. Jessie started rooting through a tangle of clothes.

  “Did Nic—”

  I broke off, mortified that I’d been about to ask her if he’d said anything about me. If I wasn’t careful, I’d be begging her to pass him a note in study hall.

  “Did he what?” She withdrew a wrinkled, double-X T-shirt and tossed it across the space between us.

  “Never mind.” I headed for the door.

  “He said to tell you, he’d see you again.”

  I spun, annoyed at the way my heart leaped. “Were you going to relay that in this century?”

  “Don’t get snippy with me. I’m not the one who lied to him.”

  “I didn’t lie.”

  “Omission.”

  “You think I should tell him, ‘Oh, and by the way, I turn furry and snarl beneath the moon. I don’t know if I’ll ever be cured. I might get worse. And we can’t have children. Let’s get married’?”

  I could have sworn I saw a flash of sympathy in her eyes, but the expression was gone so fast I knew I’d imagined it even before she sniped right back at me.

  “Tell him something, Doctor. The man’s in love with you.”

  “Is not.”

  My denial was automatic, even before I thought of Nic’s words and behavior since he’d walked back into my life. There was something between us, but I doubted it was love—at least for him.

  “You’re right.” Jessie let her gaze wander from the top of my tangled hair, to the tips of my filthy tennis shoes. “Skinny, blond eggheads probably aren’t his type. I’m sure he loathes the very sight of you.”

  “He acts as if he does.”

  “And then, let me guess, he sticks his tongue down your throat.”

  Close enough.

  “That’s what I thought.” She drew in a deep breath. “You don’t have much experience with men.”

  “You do?”

  “I played with boys most of my life.”

  I lifted my brows.

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, Doctor.”

  “Elise,” I corrected. “Doctor makes me feel like I should ask you to bend over and cough.”

  She almost laughed, and I wasn’t even trying to be funny.

  “What did Edward say that made you tell Nic to go?” Jessie asked.

  He knows the names of the people you’ve killed.

  I couldn’t tell Jessie the truth any more than I could have told Nic.

  “He said Nic was up to something. That he couldn’t be trusted. Someone could get killed.”

  “Knowing Edward, I’m sure he said that someone would be the G-man.”

  She knew him well.

  “If Franklin was the enemy, he’d have killed you the first chance he got. Bad guys, contrary to most popular motion pictures, do not screw around talking their enemy to death or fashioning Batman-like death traps so the good guys can escape and win in the end. Evil people kill you, then they move on.”

  She was right; Nic wasn’t up to anything but his job. A job that would get me a lethal injection or him a bullet in the head.

  Choices, choices.

  “Mandenauer’s probably worried you’ll be overcome with lust. When that happens, his perfect world gets shot to shit. You know how he is about his agents having a social life.”

  Except in Edward’s mind, I wasn’t an agent and
I didn’t deserve a life, social or otherwise.

  “G-man is pretty hot,” Jessie continued. “How did you ever stay a virgin around that guy?”

  Discussing my sex life, or lack of it, with a near stranger wasn’t a place I was prepared to go. However, Jessie wasn’t the type of woman to be denied an answer.

  “Come on, tell the truth. You guys did it. You just didn’t want Mandenauer to know.”

  I shook my head before I could stop myself.

  Her snort of derision was almost as insulting as her words. “You really are an ice princess.”

  “Thanks.” I headed for the door. “I needed that.”

  “Wait. Elise.” She gave a short, sharp sigh. “Sorry. My mouth gets away from me sometimes. Playing nice is tough.”

  I glanced over my shoulder. She really did look sorry.

  “I never had a girlfriend.” She shrugged. “Until—”

  “Leigh?”

  “Zee. That didn’t go well.”

  Which was putting it mildly. I was surprised Jessie had been able to bond with Leigh at all after the fiasco in Miniwa. Of course, they were two of a kind.

  Still, knowing that Jessie had been as much of a social reject as I was helped. I understood her better. I even liked her a little.

  “Was Leigh the same?” I couldn’t help but ask. “Hard time making friends like ...” I was going to say us, but I couldn’t manage to articulate what a loser I’d been.

  “Leigh?” Jessie laughed. “No. She was the duchess of pom-pom.”

  “I’m sorry?”

  “The prom queen, the cheerleader, the quarterback’s girl. I can’t believe I didn’t shoot her when I had the chance.”

  Jessie’s words made me smile. Girls like Leigh had set my teeth on edge, too—back when such things had made a difference.

  But once you knew what kind of monsters lived in the world, the petty nonsense of adolescence lost its power to terrify.

  One less thing.

  “If Franklin shows up again, screw him.”

  I wasn’t sure if she meant screw him... or screw him. Either way—

  “Huh?”

  “Have sex,” she clarified with a roll of her eyes. “Maybe if you do, you won’t be so damn annoying.”